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Muscle tension can be measured in a variety of ways, including electromyography (EMG), mechanomyography (MMG), and myography. These methods involve recording the electrical potential or force exerted by muscles during contraction. Devices such as the manual dynamometer, wire tensiometer, and isokinetic dynamometer have been used to estimate the mechanical properties of skeletal muscles. More recently, novel devices such as the MC sensor and piezoresistive sensors have been developed to measure muscle tension in a non-invasive manner. These sensors are typically small and lightweight, allowing for measurements to be taken while the subject performs different activities. In addition, wearable devices and ultrasonic sensors have been explored for long-term recording of muscle signals, offering new opportunities for muscle-machine interfacing and diagnostics.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Device Name | MC Sensor |
| Muscle Measured | Biceps Brachii Muscle |
| Measurement Type | Non-Invasive and Selective |
| Sensor Placement | Fixed on the skin surface above the muscle |
| Sensor Size | Small and Light |
| Sensor Functionality | Measures muscle tension during muscle contractions |
| Sensor Application | Pressure applied through sensor tip indentation |
| Sensor Output | Force on the sensor tip |
| Sensor Performance | High individual linear correlation between isometric force and MC signal amplitudes (0.97 ≤ r ≤ 1) |
| Sensor Advantages | Useful for muscle mechanic diagnostics and complementary to existing methods |
| Other Devices | Manual dynamometer, wire tensiometer, isokinetic dynamometer, myography, sonomyography |
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What You'll Learn
Muscle tension measurement methods
Muscle tension can be measured using a variety of methods and devices.
MC Sensor
The Muscle Contraction (MC) sensor is a novel method for measuring muscle tension non-invasively and selectively. The sensor is fixed on the skin surface above the muscle, with the sensor tip applying pressure to the skin and muscle. The force on the sensor tip is measured, which is roughly proportional to the tension of the muscle. The sensor is small and lightweight, allowing the subject to perform different activities during measurement. Test measurements on the biceps brachii muscle showed a high individual linear correlation between the isometric force and MC signal amplitudes.
Myography
Myography measures muscle activity and has become essential to modern healthcare, assistive/rehabilitation, and human augmentation technologies. Conventional myography techniques include forcemyography (FMG), which records the force, and electromyography (EMG), which records the electrical potential. These methods typically involve placing electrodes or wires on the skin for the duration of the measurement, but the development of wearable devices has allowed for long-term recording of muscle signals without limiting physical activity.
Piezoresistive Sensor
Piezoresistive sensors are another method for measuring muscle contraction non-invasively. These sensors are applied to the skin and sense the mechanical force exerted by the underlying contracting muscles. They can also detect the mechanomyogram (MMG), or the small vibrations that occur during muscle contraction.
Sonomyography
Sonomyography is a recent technique that utilizes ultrasonic transducers to measure muscle activity. This method employs the principles of ultrasound, the pulse-echo phenomenon, and the piezoelectric effect to create an ultrasonic wavefront that is reflected by the muscle and then sensed by the transducer.
Manual Dynamometer, Wire-Tensiometer, and Isokinetic Dynamometer
These devices are used to estimate the mechanical properties of skeletal muscles by measuring muscle force or torque about a specific joint. However, these methods are not suitable for clinical or sports settings.
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MC Sensors
Muscle tension is an important skeletal muscle biomechanical property. The estimation of skeletal muscle tension during contraction is an important element in the daily work in various fields in health and medicine, as well as those that require an understanding of human motion, such as professional sports and physiotherapy.
Traditionally, biomechanical properties in human skeletal muscles have been detected indirectly by measuring muscle force or torque about a specific joint. However, such measurements are not suitable for application in clinical or sports settings.
The muscle contraction (MC) sensor is a novel method for measuring muscle tension during muscle contractions. The sensor is fixed on the skin surface above the muscle, while the sensor tip applies pressure and causes an indentation of the skin and intermediate layer directly above the muscle. The force on the sensor tip is then measured and is roughly proportional to the tension of the muscle. The measurement is non-invasive and selective. The sensor is relatively small and light so that the measurements can be performed while the measured subject performs different activities.
The basic structure of the MC sensor consists of a sensor tip, force meter, and supporting part. The sensor is attached to the subject’s skin surface above the intermediate layer and the skeletal muscle being measured. The sensor tip has to be suitably shaped so it can push down upon the subject’s skin at the appropriate position in a non-invasive way. Any suitable force meter or pressure meter can be used for measuring the force detected on the sensor tip.
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Piezoresistive sensors
Muscle contraction measurement is typically achieved through electromyography (EMG), which is used in many biomedical applications, including prosthesis control and human-machine interfaces. However, EMG has some limitations, and alternative methods for measuring muscle activity involve monitoring the mechanical changes that occur during contraction.
One such alternative method is the piezoresistive sensor, a non-invasive sensor based on a force-sensitive resistor (FSR). This sensor is applied to the skin through a rigid dome and senses the mechanical force exerted by the underlying contracting muscles. FSR creep causes output drift, but this can be reduced by fixing the voltage across the FSR, which also provides a voltage output proportional to the force. The sensor is able to detect the mechanomyogram (MMG), or the small vibrations that occur during muscle contraction.
The frequency response of the FSR sensor is large enough to correctly measure the MMG. Preliminary validation tests on healthy subjects showed that the FSR sensor could be used to proportionally control a hand prosthesis, achieving comparable performances to EMG.
The MuscLab system uses e-textile (piezoresistive textile) sensors sewn onto a flexible and elastic textile band. This system can simultaneously monitor and discriminate muscle contractions across different muscle groups in individuals with a shank perimeter ranging from 33.5 to 48.7 cm.
Commercially available sensors made from conductive polymer composites have been tested at different voltages and stresses to develop a comprehensive model of piezoresistive response.
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Myography
Another type of myography is pressure myography, where the vessel is mounted on glass cannulae and exposed to a pressure system. This method allows for experiments to be conducted on vessels in a conformation and pressure similar to the in vivo situation. Changes in diameter are directly visualized on a monitor.
Phonomyography (PMG), or acoustic myography, is a new method of monitoring neuromuscular function. It involves generating a low-frequency sound following skeletal muscle contraction, which is then recorded by a specially adapted microphone.
Additionally, a new muscle contraction (MC) sensor has been developed to measure muscle tension non-invasively and selectively. The sensor is fixed on the skin surface above the muscle, and the force on the sensor tip is measured, which is roughly proportional to muscle tension. This method has shown a high correlation with electromyogram (EMG) signals and is expected to be useful for muscle mechanic diagnostics.
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Sonomyography
In addition to its use in movement tracking, sonomyography has also been proposed as a way to improve the coordination between a robotic leg prosthesis and the user's neuromuscular system. By integrating sonomyography with shared control, robotic leg prostheses can achieve volitional behaviour, leading to improved performance in complex, uncertain real-world environments compared to conventional reactive control strategies that rely solely on mechanical sensors.
Furthermore, sonomyography has been evaluated in combination with surface electromyography (EMG) for the estimation of lower-limb kinematics using Gaussian process regression. The results showed that anterior sonomyography sensor fusion with surface EMG significantly improved the estimation of hip, knee, and ankle motion for all ambulation tasks compared to surface EMG alone.
Overall, sonomyography is a promising technology that has the potential to improve our understanding of human movement and enhance the performance of robotic assistive devices.
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Frequently asked questions
There are several devices that can measure muscle tension, including the manual dynamometer, the wire tensiometer, and the isokinetic dynamometer. Another device is the MC sensor, which is a muscle contraction (MC) sensor that measures muscle tension in a non-invasive and selective manner.
The MC sensor is placed on the skin surface above the muscle, while the sensor tip applies pressure and causes an indentation on the skin and muscle. The force on the sensor tip is then measured, which is roughly proportional to the tension of the muscle.
The MC sensor is small and lightweight, allowing the user to move freely during testing. It can also be used to measure specific muscles or parts of muscles. The MC sensor has been shown to have a strong correlation with electromyogram (EMG) signals, indicating its potential usefulness in muscle mechanic diagnostics.
Yes, there are alternative methods such as electromyography (EMG) and piezoresistive sensors. EMG measures the electrical potential generated by muscles, while piezoresistive sensors detect mechanical variations during muscle contraction. Additionally, newer techniques like sonomyography use ultrasonic transducers to measure muscle activity. Devices like Myoton specifically measure muscle tone, stiffness, and elasticity.
